Everything we know about Jacket Potato on The Masked Singer

From clues to fan guesses and more

Jacket Potato has made it to the semi-final ofThe Masked Singer.

Debuting on New Year’s Day, the ITV show welcomed a new batch of 13 incognito celebrities to compete in the singing competition.

Jacket Potato is among the slew of contestants performing for a star-studded judges panel, consisting of singer Rita Ora, comedian Mo Gilligan, former Big Brother presenter Davina McCall and BBC host Jonathan Ross.

Jacket Potato debuted on The Masked Singer stage on Saturday 7 January, competing against Fawn.

Who is Jacket Potato?

Jacket Potato’s shiny appearance consists of a silver jacket and pants, a shirt that looks like baked beans, polystyrene container shoes, and yellow gloves.

The contestant’s mask is a giant potato with a split in the middle with butter inside. They also wear sunglasses.

The first clue as to Jacket Potato’s identity was: “Their vocals are sure to get you creamed – it’s jacket potato!”

Appearing on the show he declared: “I’m no angel, but I’m one sweet potato!”

“Tonight I’m gonna deliver a smash hit!” he promised.

Jacket Potato sang “Viva Las Vegas”, the 1964 song recorded by Elvis Presley for the film of the same name.

Many fans speculated that Jacket Potato could either be a celebrity chef such as Gordon Ramsay, Gregg Wallace or Jamie Oliver or one of the actors from The Dinner Ladies, such as Maxine Peake or Kym Marsh.

A lot of fans are also guessing that British singer Brian Harvey is Jacket Potato.

After his first performance, other viewers guessed that Jacket Potato could be EastEnders star Shane Richie, which was also one of judge Jonathan Ross’s guess.

Shane Richie as Alfie Moon in ‘EastEnders’ (BBC/PA)

Jacket Potato later offered an additional clue via a riddle: “Hey, it’s me, Jack. I’ve got quite the collection, so big, it’ll make you say ‘woah’.”

In episode four (Saturday 21 January), Jacket Potato began his video introduction with “It’s me, Jack – Jack Potato.”

After a shot of a spinning disco ball, “Jack” told viewers that he was able to express a whole host of emotions, and that he puts part of his success down to the universe.

At one point, Jacket Potato is seen playing a piano with a stethoscope on the top before he says: “Some mega-famous people have looked to me to make them look good.”

Before the spud began his soulful performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, Mo Gilligan noted that his accent was “all over the place”.

Gino D’Acampo (Haarala Hamilton/PA)

Because of this, Rita Ora guessed that he could be Italian chef Gino D’Acampo, struggling to mask his accent.

Hooked on the possible doctor clue, Jonathan Ross suggested Brian Cox, while Davina McCall went for former doctor and original The Masked Singer judge Ken Jeong.

Mo Gilligan guessed that theatre star Michael Ball could be disguised as the potato and masking his true vocal abilities.

The additional clues given were as follows: “Yeah I’m Jack, Jack Potato. Rumour is, I’m a real pussycat” and “It’s me Jack, Jacket Potato. Rumour is, I’m a real sell out in England”.

However, one is true, and one is nothing but a red herring, in place to further mystify the audience.

On Saturday (28 January), Jacket Potato’s VT featured allusions to the number 50, the phrase “out of order” and being a “foil”.

He then sang “Smooth” by Carlos Santana, with McCall guessing Ade Edmondson and Gilligan going for Matt Lucas. Ora went with Jack Black and Ross went for Ozzy Osbourne.

On 4 February, almost as soon as Jacket Potato appeared on stage with a guitar to perform Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way”, many viewers claimed to have their suspicions that he is Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora confirmed, with one tweeting: “Jacket Potato is one million percent Richie Sambora. ‘Go Your Own Way’ – he left Bon Jovi 10 years ago. And I know that voice and that playing anywhere.”

The Masked Singer airs Saturdays at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.